Most of the time, we are unaware of the harmful pollutants in the air that we breathe in. That new car smell, that new house smell, the new product you just picked up from the store: these smells are not innocent as you think (these smells are from the volatile organic compounds emitted by these items, more on this later).
In fact, the invisible elephant in our room, in our home, or in our office, is the air that we breathe in. Let’s talk about this elephant, and how we can scare it away.
Some of our uninformed actions unintentionally release harmful pollutants into our home. For example, when we leave our cars running idle in the garage attached to our house, or when we improperly use our fireplace, we may be inviting harmful air pollutants into our homes.
Sometimes, harmful pollutants get into our homes through actions that we cannot control. For example, if we live in places with high car traffic pollution or in an area where there are pollutants-producing industries, some of these outdoor pollutants can creep indoors into our homes.
Furthermore, the presence of mold in our homes lowers the air quality in our homes.
These are a few examples of ways that pollutants can get inside your home. I will provide more examples later in this article.
We must have good air quality in your homes because we spend 80-90% of our time indoors. Breathing in air that is of bad quality can result in both long-term and short-term health problems.
The long-term health problems that result from breathing in poor-quality air is particularly dangerous because we will not know that this air is causing us harm. Therefore, we will not attempt to take corrective actions.
The short-term health problems from breathing in poor-quality air are also dangerous because we might be misattributing the health problems that result from this poor air to other things. Misattribution will also prevent us from taking corrective actions to improve our air quality and our health.
Sources estimate that poor air quality costs the United States alone over 78 billion dollars annually in health care costs related to both chronic and terminal illnesses. Poor indoor air quality has real-life consequences for your comfort and health. It is important that you diligently monitor your air quality in your home, your offices, and anywhere you spend a lot of time.
An indoor air quality monitor will help you know the quality of the air that you breathe in. It is good to know what is the air that you breathe in as this will help you to make decisions that will help to improve the quality of air inside your home. It will help you make informed lifestyle decisions and will help you live a healthy life.
Fortunately, indoor air quality monitors are becoming more and more affordable, accurate, portable, and user-friendly. Also, modern indoor air quality monitors require low maintenance and you can use them to monitor continuously in real-time the air quality of your home.
In this article, I will discuss indoor air quality monitoring and I will guide you through the process of selecting the best air quality monitor for your home.
What is Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Indoor Air Quality, otherwise shortened as IAQ, refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants.
This means dwelling in and around spaces with poor air quality can cause you health problems. These spaces could be your home or your office. Poor air quality can cause immediate health problems. It can also cause you health problems many years after your exposure to bad indoor air.
What is Indoor Air Quality Monitoring?
Indoor air quality monitoring is the process of monitoring the levels of pollutants inside your home or office, pollutants which are known to cause harmful health effects.
Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) publish lists of air pollutants that are known to cause health problems. Indoor Air Quality Monitoring is about measuring the amount of these problem pollutants inside your homes or offices.
Causes of Poor Indoor Air Pollutants: Gases, Particulate Matter(PM), and other Pollutants
Below are the harmful pollutants that can be present in the indoor air of your home:
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is released into your home from your gas stoves, from frying, grilling, or cooking. Carbon monoxide can also sneak into your home from the outdoors because moving cars produce a lot of carbon monoxide. Carbon dioxide can also sneak into your car if you run your car idle in your garage that is attached to your home.
When you inhale carbon monoxide, it will affect the transport of blood in your body. Inhaling carbon dioxide can cause dizziness, unconsciousness, and even sudden death.
Lead Particulate
Lead-based paints used in old buildings that escape into the air that results in floating lead particulates in ambient air. Inhaling lead particulates can delay growth in children. Inhaling lead can also cause reproductive problems in adult men and women. Children are more prone to be affected by lead pollutants because their bodies have a higher tendency to absorb lead. Inhaling lead can also cause brain damage and kidney problems.
Ground-level ozone
Ozone in the sky is good because sky-level ozone protects us from the harmful radiation of the sun. However, ozone is bad when it is close to us on the ground such that we can inhale it. Inhaling ground-level ozone can cause lung and heart damages.
Ground-level ozone is produced when pollutants (such as those from car exhaust, industrial plant exhausts, power plant exhausts) undergo chemical reactions with each other.
Besides, some laser printers and photocopiers produce ozone in hazardous quantities, which is dangerous if such printers are used in enclosed spaces. Furthermore, ironically, some electronic air purifiers, such as the ones that use electric discharge/ionization technology, are known to intentionally/unintentionally produce ground-level ozone.
Nitrogen Dioxide
Sources of indoor nitrogen dioxides are oil-, kerosene- and coal-burning; tobacco smokes, gas stoves, ovens; space and water heaters; and fireplaces. Inhaling nitrogen dioxide can cause breathing difficulty and coughing. Nitrogen dioxide can also trigger an asthma attack.
Particulate Matter (PM)
Particulate matter is a mixture of tiny solid particles and tiny water droplets. Particulate matter is produced by burning candles, cigarettes, incense, smoke, fire, and dust, exhausts of cars enclosed home garage, and heating food in an oven. Inhaling particulate matter can lead to or worsen heart problems. It can also lead to and worsen breathing problems.
When you inhale particulate mater that is large, such as dust, you will later sneeze them out or cough them out. However, when you inhale small particulate matter, this small particulate matter can penetrate deep into your lungs. Therefore, small particulate matter is toxic. Two highly-toxic particulate matter groups are the particulate matter groups PM 2.5 and PM 10.
- PM 10: These are particulate matter with particle size 10 micron or smaller. 10 micron is about 1/7 the size of a single hair.
- PM 2.5: These are particulate matter with particle sizes of 2.5 microns or smaller (2.5 micron is about 1/30 the size of your hair strand). PM 2.5 pollutants, because of their smaller sizes, can easily penetrate your lungs, hence they are more dangerous that PM 10 pollutants. Importantly, studies have shown that PM 2.5 concentration indoors can be 1.5 to 3.5 times higher than PM 2.5 concentration outdoors. Therefore, you must keep a close eye on PM 2.5 levels in your home.
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide gets into your home from smoke from tobacco, smoke from gas appliances, smoke from your fireplace, and smoke from your grill. Sulfur Dioxide causes difficulty in breathing. Sulfur dioxide can trigger asthma attacks.
The above six pollutants that produce unhealthy indoor air quality also produce unhealthy outdoor air quality. Hence, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designates these pollutants as “criteria air pollutants“. The EPA monitors these pollutants and sets the National Ambient Air Quality Standards based on the amount of these six pollutants that are present in outdoor air. These pollutants are as harmful outdoors as they are harmful indoors. Therefore, you need to monitor these 6 pollutants in your indoor air to ensure your breathe in quality air.
In addition to these six criteria pollutants, other pollutants that affect indoor air quality are:
Mold
Mold forms when you allow moisture to lie around in your home. Also, if your house has flooded in the past, then there is a high chance that mold will start growing on the walls around your house. Also, if you have leaking water pipes or leaking roofs in your house, then it is very likely that mold will start forming inside your house. Moreover, if the humidity level inside your house is high (above 60%), then mold will start forming around your house. Mold is very difficult to remove once it starts growing inside a building. Mold can cause health you problems like allergy reactions, respiratory problems, and asthma.
Carbon Dioxide (in high concentration)
Carbon dioxide is produced when we breathe out. The level of carbon dioxide in a building is an indication of how crowded is the building. The level of carbon dioxide is an important measure of fresh air, and it is important to track the carbon dioxide levels if you are in a space that tends to be overcrowded with people.
Moderate levels of indoor carbon dioxide can cause headaches and fatigue. High levels of indoor carbon dioxide can cause nausea, dizziness, and vomiting.
Radon
Radon is produced naturally by the radioactive decay of natural uranium. Uranium is found in rocks and soils. Radon is also found in groundwater. Radon creeps indoors into your home when natural soil is drawn indoors through cracks and joints. Radon can also creep into your house from outdoors via air leaks in your house. Radon can cause lung cancer. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Carbon-based solids (these also include the chemical called formaldehyde) that can easily evaporate to gases at room temperature and pressure are called Volatile Organic Compounds. Materials that contain volatile organic compounds release these compounds into the air by a process called out-gassing.
A lot of materials, especially new home and electronics products, contain Volatile Organic Compounds, and these products will eventually release their Volatile Organic Compounds into your home. Hence, you need to be careful when you bring new products into your home. You need to make sure these new products do not contain a high level of volatile organic compounds.
Volatile Organic compounds can cause health effects like eye, nose, and throat irritation; nausea; and damage to the liver, kidney, and central nervous system.
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a Volatile Organic Compound (VOC). Formaldehyde as a VOC deserves special treatment because a lot of materials found around the home release formaldehyde into indoor air. Examples of materials that emit formaldehyde are pressed wood (solid wood do not emit formaldehyde), herbicides, fertilizers, household products, cosmetic products, and cleaning products. Some of these products are known to produce formaldehyde levels that are hazardous to health.
Potential health problems that result from exposure to formaldehyde in the home are irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. Prolonged exposure to formaldehyde may cause some types of cancers. You must monitor new products that you buy and bring into your home to ensure that they do not contain toxic levels of formaldehyde.
Other Pollutants
The other pollutants that may lower the quality of the air in your house are Air-borne dust, Odors, Allergens, Microbes, moisture (in form of humidity), thermal pollutant (in form of heat).
Sources of Pollutants in Homes and Offices
To recap the previous section, these are the common sources of pollutants that lower the quality of indoor quality air:
- Flame/heat-producing cooking appliances
- Burning tobacco
- Mold growth
- House cleaning products
- Pollutants for outdoors that creep indoors (emission from vehicles, wildfires, radon gas, pollutants from neighboring industries that release pollutants into the air, humidity). The pollutants can get indoors through leaky HVACS and through leaks in doors and windows
- Humidifiers (introduces moisture into your home)
- Ozone-producing laser printers and photocopiers
- New building materials and home furnishing materials
- Asbestos-containing insulation
- Newly installed flooring, upholstery, or carpet
- Products that are found and used in and around homes and offices such as paints, adhesives, dyes, caulks, home cleaning products, deodorizers, waxes, herbicides, pesticides, and other miscellaneous chemicals used in the home
- Indoor potted plants: These should be cautiously considered because they eliminate VOCs, however watering indoor plants may cause elevated moisture levels. Also, research shows that the roots of these plants may release harmful fungi into the ambient indoor air.
Amount of Pollutants that results in Unsafe Indoor Air Quality
According to the EPA, the pollutant levels that result in unsafe air quality are given in the table below. Each of the limits in the table is an average over time. This means that when you measure the level of a pollutant you should measure it multiple times over a specific period. Then you should average the values that you measure. You should then compare your average value to the limit in the table.
| Pollutant | Averaging Time | Level | ||||
| Carbon Monoxide (CO) | 8 hours | 9 ppm | ||||
| Carbon Monoxide (CO) | 1 hour | 35 ppm | ||||
| Lead (Pb) | Rolling 3 month average | 0.15 μg/m3 | ||||
| Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) | 1 hour | 100 ppb | ||||
| Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) | 1 year | 53 ppb | ||||
| Ozone (O3) | 8 hours | 0.070 ppm | ||||
| PM2.5 | 1 year | 12.0 μg/m3 | ||||
| PM2.5 | 24 hours | 35 μg/m3 | ||||
| PM10 | 24 hours | 150 μg/m3 | ||||
| Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) | 1 hour | 75 ppb | ||||
How to Monitor Indoor Air Quality
You can use a consumer-grade air quality monitor to monitor your indoor air quality. There are also research-grade indoor air quality. However, there are good quality consumer-grade indoor air quality monitor that are capable of accurately measure your indoor air quality.
How does an Indoor Air Quality Monitor Work
To measure particulate matter, an air quality monitor uses a fan to draw ambient air into the monitor. Then, the monitor shines light at the particulate matter, then the the monitor uses sensors to measures how much light is scattered back by the particulate matter. Then an algorithm converts the amount of scattered light to a measure of the concentration of the particulate matter in ambient air.
To measure the amount of a gas pollutant present in indoor air, the indoor air quality sensor monitor shines infrared light at pollutant gas. The pollutant gas will absorb some of the infrared light. The amount of infrared light absorbed is proportional to the amount of the pollutant gas present in the air. The sensor uses the amount of infrared light that has been absorbed to measure the amount of the pollutant gas that is present in the ambient air. This technique is called the non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) absorption technique for gas detection.
Another method that air quality sensors employ to measure the level of a pollutant gas is to capture the pollutant gas on an electrode, and then electrochemically convert the pollutant gas into an electric current. This electric current is proportional to the amount of the pollutant gas present in the air. This electric current is then used to quantify the amount of the pollutant gas present in the ambient air.
Factors to consider when choosing indoor home air quality monitor
When you are choosing an indoor air quality monitor, these are the factors that you need to consider
The pollutants that it measures: You need to check if the monitor can measure all the pollutants that are of interest to you. Some monitors are specific to certain pollutants.
Range and Accuracy: You need to check if the monitor covers the pollution level ranges that are of interest to you. You also need to check the accuracy and precision of the monitor.
Absolute or Relative Pollutant Levels: Some monitors give your pollutant levels on a relative scale (e.g in percentages). This might be sufficient if you intend to only monitor the trend of your air quality. However, if you intend to measure the exact quantities of the pollutants in your indoor air, then you need a monitor that measures the absolute amount of pollutants in your indoor air.
Size of Monitor: How compact and portable do you want your indoor air quality monitor? Indoor air quality monitors range in size from the size of a television set to the size of a fitness watch.
Real-time Monitoring: Does the indoor air quality monitor measure and report pollutant levels in real-time?
Notification System/Alarm: Will the indoor air quality monitor notify you or sound an alarm when the air quality in your home deteriorates below an acceptable limit?
Price: How affordable is the indoor air quality monitor of your interest?
Air Quality Data Log Over Time: Will the indoor air quality save the air quality data that in measures so that you can access the data later? How much data can the indoor air quality safe, and for how long can it save the data?
Smart-Home Connectivity: Can you connect your air quality monitor as part of your smart home network. Can you use your air quality monitor with Amazon Alexa, or Google home, etc?
Smart HVAC Compatibility: Can you connect your indoor air quality to your smart HVAC such that your air quality monitor can trigger your HVAC to air out your home whenever your indoor air quality deteriorates?
Periodic Calibration: Do you have to periodically calibrate your Indoor Air Quality Monitor, and how often to you have to calibrate it?
How much do indoor air quality monitors cost?
Most consumer-grade indoor air quality monitors cost $350 or less.
Best Indoor Air Quality Monitors
Based on my research, the best indoor air quality monitors (in no particular order) are:
- Igeress Indoor Air Pollution Tester
- uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor
- Dylos Pro Air Quality Monitor
- Airthings Wave Plus Air Quality Monitor
- Awair Element Indoor Air Quality Monitor
- My Mold Detective MMD103 Mold Test Kit
- Atmotube PLUS Wearable Air Quality Monitor
- CO2 Inc IAQ Max (Click here to see my earlier review of this air quality monitor)
I will now discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of these indoor air quality monitor
Igeress Indoor Air Pollution Tester
Features
- The Igeress Indoor Air Pollution Tester can monitor these pollutants: formaldehyde (HCHO), Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOCs), PM2.5, PM1.0, PM10, temperature, and humidity.
Pro
- Very cheap, very compact, and very easy to use
Con
- The Igeress Indoor Air Pollution Tester needs to be calibrated with fresh unpolluted air every time you turn on the tester.
uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor
Features
- The uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor measures Carbon Dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Dust (Particulate Matter 2.5 / PM2.5), Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, Temperature, and Humidity, Air pressure.
- It has wireless capability such that you can connect it to your other smart home devices such as Amazon Alexa
- You can connect the uHoo Air Quality Sensor to your phone and you can use your phone to view the air quality data of your home from anywhere.
- The uHoo provide you smart insights on how to improve the quality of the air in your home
Pros
- The uHoo allows you to monitor 9 different air quality metrics (including Carbon dioxide) with just one monitor.
- The uHoo is a smart device that you can connect to your phone. You can also connect the uHoo to other If This, Then That (IFTTT) compatible devices (such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant) in your home.
Con
- The uHoo comes at a higher price because the uHoo has more features bundled into it.
The Dylos Pro Air Quality Monitor
Features
- The Dylos Pro Air Quality Monitor is extremely accurate for measuring particulate matter (smaller and bigger than PM 2.5 particles).
- The accuracy of Dylos’ Air Quality Monitor has been validated by research studies. The Dylos Pro Air Quality Monitor can detect particles down to 0.5 microns.
Pro
- The Dylos Pro is extremely accurate for measuring particulate matter.
Con
- The Dylos Pro measures only particulate matter and no other pollutants.
Airthings Wave Plus Air Quality Monitor
- The Airthings Wave Plus monitors pollutants such as Radon, Carbon Dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds( VOCs), humidity, heat, and air pressure.
- You can connect the Airthings Wave Plus to your phone via Bluetooth. This allows you to use your phone to keep track of the air quality level of your home.
- The Airthings Wave Plus allows you to upload your home air quality data to the cloud. This allows you to use the Airthings Wave Plus with IFTTT devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistance to make your home an air quality smart home.
Pros
- The Airthings Wave Plus can detect Radon gas pollutants in your home. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer. The Airthings Wave Plus is one of the few air quality monitors that can detect Radon.
- The price is reasonable when you consider the number of features bundled with the Airthings Wave Plus
Con
- You need to be a little tech-savvy to use the smart features of the Airthings Wave Plus
Awair Element Indoor Air Quality Monitor
Features
- The Awair Element Indoor Air Quality Monitor lets you track temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs), and particulate matter (PM2. 5) in your home or office.
Pros
- The Awair Element has wireless capability such that you can connect it to your other smart home devices such as Amazon Alexa.
- The Awair Element shows you the trend in the air quality of your home.
Con
- You need to be a little tech-savvy to connect the Awair Element to your home wifi network
My Mold Detective MMD103 Mold Test Kit
Features
The Mold Detective MMD103 has a reusable 15 liter Air Sampling Pump that you use to collect air samples in your home. You then send this air sample to a lab for professional-grade analysis.
Pros
- Unlike the other monitors that I have reviewed, the MMD103 Mold Test Kit is the only monitor that can detect mold in your home.
- It provides you an accurate measure of the mold in the air of your house
Cons
- The monitor only detects mold.
- You use this monitor to collect the mold air sample, and then you have to send the sample out to a test lab via FedEx. You need to pay extra for the cost of this lab analysis of your air sample. The cost of the lab analysis is separate from the cost of the mold monitor.
Atmotube PLUS Portable Outdoor and Indoor Air Quality Monitor
Features
- The Atmotube PLUS is a wearable, very compact air quality monitor that you can take with you anywhere you go to constantly track ambient air in your environment.
- The Atmotuble PLUS measures concentration of VOCs, temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure around you.
- The Atmotuble PLUS can also connect to your phone via Bluetooth. You can view the air quality data of the Atmotube on your phone.
Pro
- The Atmotuble PLUS is a very compact air quality sensor that can be used as a wearable device.
Con
- It cannot monitor important pollutants such as Carbon dioxide, Particulate Matter, etc.
Summary of Indoor Air Pollutant, Health Effects, and Air Quality Monitor
The table below shows the common pollutants that are found indoors, the health effects of exposure to such pollutants, and best air quality monitors for detecting such pollutants.
Pollutant | Pollution Source | Health Effect | Appropriate IAQ Monitor |
|
Radon Gas | Radioactive decay of natural uranium found in all rock, soils |
Lung cancer | Airthings Wave Plus |
|
Carbon Monoxide |
Emission from cars running in the attached garage, cooking accidents (burned food) |
Carbon monoxide poisoning: dizziness, headaches | Airthings Wave Plus |
|
Mold |
Moisture in buildings |
Allergic reactions | My Mold Detective |
|
Ground-level ozone |
Laser photocopier and printers |
Asthma, lung and heart damage, COPD, itching throat | uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor |
|
Nitrogen Dioxide |
Pollution from outside (industrial, vehicular) |
wheezing, coughing, chest pain, throat irritations | uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor |
|
Sulphur Dioxide |
Pollution from outside (industrial, vehicular) | difficulty in breathing, asthma | uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor |
|
Particulate matter (PM 2.5, PM10) |
Dust, industrial and vehicle pollution for outside | Lung diseases | Dylos Pro Air Quality Monitor |
|
Lead |
Lead-based paint on old buildings, firearms, lead bullets | Delayed Growth, Reproductive problems |
|
|
Moisture |
Humidifiers, swimming pools |
Humidifier fever, Legionnaires’ disease, Pontiac fever | uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor |
|
Heat (Thermal Radiation) | Heat |
Discomfort | uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor |
|
Carbon Dioxide |
Overcrowded spaces |
Fatigue, headaches, vomiting, dizziness, and nausea | Airthings Wave Plus |
|
Volatile Organic Compounds, Formaldehyde |
New electronics, New building materials |
Irritation of the skin, throat, nose, and eyes. Respiratory problems | uHoo Indoor Air Quality Sensor |
|
Pollens | Flowers, trees |
Allergic Reactions |
|
| All pollutants | “Sick Building Syndrome” |
How to Ensure your Indoor Air Quality Monitor Gives an Accurate Reading
To ensure that your air quality monitor performs accurately:
- Make sure you use your indoor air quality monitor to measure the pollutant(s) that it was designed to measure.
- Make sure that there are no interfering pollutants in the ambient air when you use your indoor air quality monitor. For example, if your monitor was designed to specifically monitor the gas carbon dioxide, then ensure that there are no other gases in your house except carbon dioxide. This is because the other gases might be picked up by your indoor air quality monitor, and this will cause your indoor air quality monitor to produce false readings.
- If your indoor air quality monitor requires periodic calibration, then make sure your air quality monitor is calibrated regularly.
Rewards of Monitoring the Air Quality in your Home or Office
Indoor air quality monitors let you know if your home or office has good or bad air. They let you know if your need to intervene to ensure that the quality of the air in your home or office is of safe quality. Indoor air quality monitors also let you know what sort of intervention is effective in improving the indoor air quality of your home or office. For example, an air quality monitor can tell your how effective is turning on your fan, opening your windows, using an air purifier, vacuuming your floor, etc, in reducing the level of pollutants in your home. This can save you money as this will deter you from spending money unnecessarily on over-ventilating your home or office.
Furthermore, with an indoor air quality monitor, you can identify the specific activities that significantly degrade the air quality in your home (for example, cooking certain meals, using certain electronics, etc). This will help you to make informed decisions about your lifestyle.
The corrective actions that you take to ensure that you have good air quality in your home or office will make you more productive.
How to Ensure High-Quality Air in your Home and Office
Here are the actions you can take to ensure that the air in your home or office is of good quality:
- Find and eliminate the sources of air pollution in your home. This is the most effective method to ensure high-quality air in your home or office.
- If you live or work in a neighborhood with good outdoor air quality, occasionally open your windows to air out your house and let fresh air in from the outside.
- Use mechanical fans to air out your home or offices
- Turn on your range hood when cooking
- Grill in a well-ventilated space
- Use a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems: choose an HVAC system that is properly designed to prevent polluted outdoor air from leaking inside.
- Regularly replace the air filters of your HVACs. Consider upgrading the air filter of your HVAC to higher quality ones.
- Use safe air purifiers/air sanitizers to clean your indoor air
- Use dedicated humidity control systems (dehumidifiers) to control the moisture level inside your homes. Uncontrolled humidity can lead to mold growth and other pollutants that cause low indoor air quality.
- Use a thermostat to regulate the temperature/heat inside your home.
Future of Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
The future of air quality monitoring is the electronic nose. An electronic nose can be designed to sense different chemicals including pollutant gases. Recently, Intel announced a breakthrough electronic nose that uses artificial intelligence (neuromorphic computing) to ‘smell’ chemicals. Details of this electronic nose can be found here. I believe the electronic nose will soon be adapted for indoor air quality monitoring.
Let me know what your thoughts are on indoor air quality monitoring and indoor air quality monitors in the comment section below. Also, let me know in the comment section if you have a favorite indoor air quality monitor that I have not included in my list of air quality monitors.
